


This One I'll Keep

by kerithwyn



Category: Fringe
Genre: F/M, Foursome - F/M/M/M, OT4, Polyamory, Team Red'verse, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-03
Updated: 2014-04-03
Packaged: 2018-01-17 08:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1381135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerithwyn/pseuds/kerithwyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU scene for Elfin's Pack 'verse. The other half of date night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This One I'll Keep

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Threw All I Had into the Sea](https://archiveofourown.org/works/721560) by [elfin (crazylittleelf)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazylittleelf/pseuds/elfin). 



> Set in Elfin's [ Pack](http://archiveofourown.org/series/19638) AU. (Short summary: Red'verse AU where Olivia, Lincoln, Charlie, and Frank become werewolves and form a polyamorous pack.) Thanks again to Elf for letting me play in her 'verse! Concurrent with her fic "Threw All I Had into the Sea."

> _Frank hung his backpack on the hook behind the front door and turned to watch Liv as the leaned in towards the mirror, sliding lipstick across her lower lip. The angle, combined with the ridiculously high heels, emphasized the curve of her ass. Frank grinned and stared._
> 
> _"Like what you see?"_
> 
> _He walked toward her, sliding one hand over her hip. "Um. Yes?"_
> 
> _She slapped his hand away, grinning at him in the mirror without turning. "Tough. You're stuck with that tonight," she said, gesturing over her shoulder._
> 
> _Lincoln was sprawled on the couch in his wolf-form, legs waving in the air as he wiggled on his back._
> 
> _"Oh, fantastic."_
> 
> _Charlie had his jacket slung over his shoulder, hooked on a finger. "You kids behave."_

 

They stepped out into the cool evening air and Charlie slid his arm around her waist. With her heels, they were practically eye to eye. Olivia thought they fit the picture of a perfectly ordinary couple heading out for a night on the town. "Where are we going?"

"Dinner. Dancing. Maybe you'll get lucky." Charlie waggled his eyebrows.

Liv smirked and hugged his arm closer. "I'm already lucky."

Charlie kissed her temple. "Me too."

He'd already called for a taxi and they were quiet along the ride, pressed together in the back seat. Liv nipped briefly at his chin and then reached up to wipe the faint lipstick trace away. It was still new, being out with Charlie like this after they'd been friends for so long.

It probably shouldn't have felt as natural as it did, going out with one of her partners—one of her _werewolf lovers,_ to fully define the absurdity—while the other two were back in the apartment, getting up to God knows what. (Liv could guess and counted on getting the full rundown later.) Part of her was still stunned over the changes they'd been through, both physically and in their personal lives. But being next to Charlie, smelling his scent and the way it entwined with hers, felt so intrinsically right.

The cab pulled up at a skyscraper in Midtown and they took a dedicated elevator up to the 39th floor. They were greeted by an elegant hostess and quickly shown to a reserved table overlooking the city.

Olivia glanced around, impressed. "I didn't think you even knew places like this existed, Charlie."

"What, cause I'm a Bronx boy? I got class comin' out my—" He was interrupted by the approaching waiter. Once the man had gone with their drink orders, he grinned at her. "I didn't get three wives on my good looks alone, ya know." His expression faltered. "Lost 'em easy, though."

Liv reached over the table to squeeze his hand. "Can't get rid of me that easy. Us."

Charlie gave her a smile she couldn't entirely interpret. "We do come as a set these days, don't we."

She licked nervously at her lip, then grimaced at the chemical taste of her lipstick. She'd have to investigate some flavorless and scentless brands, like Frank had done with the shampoo. "Charlie, if something's bothering you...."

"I think I'm bothered by the fact I'm not more bothered. If that makes sense."

Liv thought over everything that'd happened since the four of them had been changed. Charlie had been their rock, encouraging Liv and Frank and Lincoln to work out their issues, keeping the peace in small but critical ways. "We couldn't have made it through without you."

"Well, sure," he drawled. "Buncha idiots, couldn't smell what was in front of your own noses. But I'm still trying to work out how I fit. I don't...." He took a long breath. "It's hard to put in words. Everything's clearer when we're shifted. Simpler."

"But we still need to talk things through," Liv prompted. The shrink had emphasized that particular truism over everything else.

Their drinks arrived: Scotch rocks for Charlie, a virgin grapefruit mohito for Liv. Her aversion to alcohol had become even more acute since the change. They both took a belated look at the menu and ordered without contemplation or debate.

Charlie nodded like they hadn't been interrupted. "I don't want to challenge you. I don't want to keep Lincoln in line. I like Frank just fine, but I don't want to...dominate him." Charlie said it like the word was foreign. "Sexually or otherwise."

Liv fidgeted for a second. "You know you don't have to. Do anything you don't want to."

"Yeah." Charlie stared out the window. "Thing is, I don't know what I want anymore. I don't mind...touching them, watching them together. Or with you." He flashed her a quick smile. "I'm not freaking out, Livvy. I'm just trying to get my head straight, even if the rest of me is a little confused."

She didn't blame him. Some of their new habits were more than a little confusing. "You don't mind when I, uh. Bite you?"

Charlie laughed. "Oh, hell no. Feels amazing. And weird, because I understand why I'm reacting that way and I can't stop it. Don't want to stop it."

She eyed him, trying to pick apart what he hadn't said. "So we're okay. You and Lincoln?"

He rolled his eyes. "He's exactly the same."

Liv snorted an indelicate laugh. "He really is."

"Work is easy. That hasn't changed. At home...." Charlie toyed with his silverware and finally sighed. "It wasn't like...even before this, it wasn't like I hadn't noticed his ass, you know? I just never intended to do anything about it, wasn't really inclined that way. Now...."

The appetizer arrived and Liv dug in to the mound of steak tartare, not wanting to interrupt Charlie's train of thought. Maybe it was a cliché that all of them were craving meat more often, but whether that craving was psychological or physiological didn't really matter when they were stuffing their faces.

They'd demolished the plate and Liv was licking raw meat off her back teeth when Charlie said, "It's a little more complicated now. I know what he wants, I can smell it."

"He won't push," Liv said, already thinking about how she'd reinforce that promise if she needed to.

Charlie frowned minutely. "No, I know he won't."

"But maybe you want him to?" Liv guessed softly.

"Maybe." Charlie heaved a sigh. "Or just— I don't know. I can't figure how that should work, me and him."

She raised an eyebrow and decided that blunt was the only way through. "Well, Charlie, we've already established that putting your cock in me doesn't make me any less the boss of you. If you decide that's what you want, he's gonna be lubed up and ready to go before you finish asking."

Charlie sputtered and pointed a stern finger. "Quit tryin' to make me blush."

Liv grinned and took a long drink before she answered. "You know it's true."

He let a half smile creep across his face, the expression tinged with bemused affection. "Yeah."

She chuckled, figuring that was enough about that. Charlie would work out the rest. "And Frank?"

Charlie shrugged, his body language already easing. "Frank's a good guy. I liked him before all this. But I don't want to fuck him or vice versa."

"That's okay," she told him. "We're making this up as we go along. However we work things out privately isn't anyone's business but ours."

He snorted. "Except the shrink and anyone else who gets to decide whether we're fit for duty."

"We're not zoo animals. We can push back on the prying."

Charlie looked skeptical, but let it go as their main courses arrived, along with drink refills.

She thought about what he'd said as she dug into her osso buco. He'd accepted her as alpha at home without question, and with him she'd never had to reinforce her authority—like she'd needed to with Lincoln—or felt the urge to indulge her dominance, like with Frank. Charlie seemed to fall into a category all his own: never challenging her authority but maintaining his strong sense of self. He'd bowed to her leadership but wasn't subservient to her or Lincoln. Part of the pack but still intrinsically himself.

Charlie was determinedly working his way through a New York strip the size of his head. It'd arrived perfectly medium rare and just looking at all that pink meat made Liv's mouth water, even though she was perfectly satisfied with her own dinner. She reached over and tapped Charlie's plate with her fork. "Gimme a bite."

In response he hunched over the plate, pulled it closer, and _growled._

She had just enough presence of mind not to respond in kind. Instead she laughed like it was a joke; the tables were set far enough apart that it was unlikely anyone would have heard Charlie's slip-up, but it never hurt to be careful.

She held her smile as Charlie looked up at her, his eyes wide and shocked. "Livvy, I—"

"It's okay," she said, holding his gaze.

"Not on any level," he said, instinctively lifting his head...and showing his throat.

She had to take a slow, careful breath to keep from going right over the table. "Stop. It's _okay._ "

Charlie pushed his plate toward her—again, probably a subconscious gesture—and looked nauseated. "This feels like the opposite of when you bite me. All I wanna do is grovel at your feet and make it right—"

She reached out. "Give me your hand."

He did without hesitation and Liv leaned over to lick his palm, disguising the motion as a kiss.

Charlie pulled back his hand, fist clenched tight like he was holding a precious secret. But his face was still tense with self-directed shame. "So much for not being zoo animals."

"As penance," she said, keeping her tone light, "I'm gonna take that middle piece you were saving for last because it's the rarest, and you're gonna watch me eat it."

"Please, Olivia," he said, very quietly, and cut the prime section himself for her plate. He watched her eat in silence, still holding his hand against his chest.

When she finished, she looked at him again. "I think we can skip dessert, but you did promise me dancing."

Charlie took a deep breath, nodding, the tension in his shoulders visibly starting to ebb. "You'll let me lead without stepping all over my feet?"

Liv grinned, wiping delicately at her mouth, still tasting blood between her teeth. "No promises."

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "This One's for Me" by Tom Petty.


End file.
